March 9, 2006

[Rev. Doc]

The Power Of Your God

"At noon Elijah began to taunt them, 'Shout louder!' he said. 'Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in though, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.'"
I Kings 18:27

John G. Paton, a missionary to the South Sea Islands, often lived in danger as he worked among the hostile aborigines who had never heard the gospel. At one time three witch doctors, claiming to have the power to cause death, publicly declared their intentions to kill Paton with their sorcery before the next Sunday. To carry out their threat, they said they needed some food he had partially eaten. Paton asked for three plums. He took a bite out of each and then gave them to the men who were plotting his death.

On Sunday, the missionary entered the village with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. The people looked at each other in amazement, thinking it couldn't possibly be Paton. Their "sacred men" admitted that they had tried by all their incantations to kill him. When asked why they had failed, they replied that the missionary was a sacred man like themselves, but that his God was stronger than theirs. From then on Paton's influence grew, and soon he had the joy of leading some of the villagers to the Lord.

Prayer: Ask God to help trust in His Power alone.

"Perhaps only when human effort had done its best and failed, would God's power alone be free to work."
~Corrie Ten Boom